(Biofuels International/GoodFuels) … 2021 once again confirmed the maritime industry’s swelling appetite for biofuels, with another formidable growth in demand. Companies turning to biofuels to decarbonise their activities now span all shipping segments, including dry bulk, containerships, tankers, and ro-ro operators. The sheer numbers show that biofuels are no longer the preserve of a handful of first movers, but have gone mainstream. This is the new normal.
So far, this significant shift has mostly been driven by the industry itself. Given the urgency of the climate crisis, consumers’ demands for better, greener practices are being sounded out loud and clear – and these consumers are increasingly putting their money where their mouth is.
Responding to this market demand, industry giants have pledged to zero-carbon transport, and crucially they are ready to pay a premium to ensure their cargo is transported sustainably.
In practice, the capacity to deliver carbon-free shipping is already becoming a key factor in tenders and for when cargo owners choose their supply chain partners.
Aware of the importance of sustainability for the supply chains of the future, investors, too, are closely monitoring companies’ environmental, social and governance credentials when making investment and lending decisions.
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We are now in a seller’s market, and the days of fossil parity are over. This creates a unique challenge for producers and suppliers of biofuels that we must find solutions for – increase production and source new feedstocks to ensure we can continue to respond to the industry’s needs in the future.
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Our current supplies include sawdust, crude tall oil (a by-product of wood pulp manufacture), tallow, sewage sludge and used cooking oils from industrial applications. As demand expands, our team is taking up the exciting challenge to find more sources that can be transformed into fuel that can “drop in” conventional engines and propel vessels with the same efficiency, while significantly reducing their impact on the environment.
Meanwhile, there is a growing recognition that a whole range of new fuels will be required to achieve shipping’s decarbonisation ambitions.
Efforts must also focus on alternative fuels that can immediately make a difference on the world’s fleets, including biofuels and bio-methanol.
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In addition to growing interest in Asia, there is also a significant and growing demand in countries like the United States, the UK and France, where more favourable legislation is providing additional incentives for companies and suppliers.
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There is no doubt that tighter legislation and more ambitious targets are urgently needed, but in order to truly decarbonise shipping regulators must ensure that new legislation is goal-oriented and technology neutral, and does not allow for the preferential treatment of any technology unless it concerns the phasing out of fossil energy. READ MORE